Over 8,500 Migrants Reach Spain’s Canary Islands in 2 Weeks: Ministry Data

A group of migrants in a wooden boat are towed by a Spanish coast guard vessel to the port of Arguineguin, in the island of Gran Canaria, Spain, on Oct. 12, 2023. Borja Suarez/Reuters

MADRID—At least 8,561 illegal immigrants have reached the Canary Islands over the past two weeks, representing more than a third of this year’s total arrivals, data from Spain’s interior ministry showed on Monday.

Between Jan. 1 and Oct. 15 of this year, the islands in the Atlantic received 23,537 illegal immigrants, an 80 percent increase from the same period last year, the data showed.